Review: Shades of Gray by L.M Pruitt.

Shades of Gray (Jude Magdalyn #1)

By L.M. Pruitt

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Published: August 9th 2011 by RH Publishing

Pages: 264 approx.

Blurb:

Jude Magdalyn Henries lives what many would call an unconventional life. 

Orphaned at birth, raised by nuns, a teenage runaway living on the streets... she now earns a living at odd jobs, including one as a fake tarot card reader. Very little about Jude's life appears normal, by any scale. 

When she accepts a gig to do a private reading, unconventional takes on an entirely new meaning. Life as she knows it ends when she's thrust into a world she never knew existed-one filled with magic, vampires, and her beloved New Orleans on the verge of an underground war. 

To make matters worse, she's got two men in her life vying for attention, Williams and Theo. Both call to a different part of her, but one scares her just a little bit. 

Can she step up to the challenges set before her and make the right choices for the greatergreater good?

My Thoughts:

Well, this book is going to be hard to review. I didn't love it.  But let me explain.

First things first: let's divide it into categories.

Cover: Gorgeous, amazing and sexy. (Love the colors)

Writing: Nice, fun and fresh. 

Edition: mmm... I'd say poor. An editor is supposed to help the author, not only find grammar mistakes but also "holes" in the plot and all those things. Here... that was very needed.

Storyline: Entertaining. Actually I really liked the story. It mixes magic and vampires in a very enjoyable way.
Though, I would have given 4 stars if it wasn't for some "holes" as I said, some parts were weak.
I found for instance once especial event that was missing and definitely shouldn't.

Show Spoiler

when her friend dies, she doesn't even flinch, for God's Sake! She was her best friend and that event pass as fast as any regular thing.

Also a few contradictions. 
What else? I didn't like the fact that she was a bad*** superwoman from one day to another. I'd love to see more development on that.

I won't spoil anything but overall it was fun and has a lot of potential though it definitely needs some polish.

 Dialogues:  Good. Sometimes funny, sometimes attempted to be funny and failed, especially when the one talking was J.M. But I liked some parts such as this on below:


" I would, thanks". I pushed up from the couch and stalked back into the kitchen, pulling the freezer door open. After a moment of rummaging, I found my emergency supply of Ben and Jerry's Phish Food. Stereotypical, yes. out of line for the moment, possibly. What I wanted, right then? Absolutely."


Characters:  

Jude:  another reason why I didn't give this book a 4 stars rating. She may be the most unnerving heroine I've ever read about. I couldn't stand her. So whiny and snarky. She thinks she is funny but all I see is a spoilt brat most of the time.

William: I liked him, he is intriguing and with a mysterious air around him. I liked his interactions with Jude.

Gillian: Finally, someone that puts Jude into her place.

Theo: it's just Theo... insta-love or insta- attraction, however you want to call it... didn't worked for me...

Hart: A nice and creepy villain.


It is the start of a series, so I hope this things get better in the next book.
For me it's a 3 - 3.5 stars :)

About the Author:

L.M. Pruitt has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember. A native of Florida with a love of New Orleans, she has the uncanny ability to find humor in most things and would probably kill a plastic plant. She is the author of the Jude Magdalyn Series as well as New Moon Rising, featuring Cari Gravier, and Taken, featuring Frankie Post. She is currently at work on the next book in the Moon Rising series, Harvest Moon Rising, due out April 2012. Ms. Pruitt makes her home in Florida with two cats--one smart, the other not so much.

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